166 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



and which is caused by a waxy exudation of the elytra to which the 



soil adheres. The presence of the 

 adults of this species in a cornfield is 

 made evident by the withering of the 

 top leaves of very young corn-plants, 

 the plants having been severely 

 gouged. After the plants grow 10 



FIG. 140.-Larva of the maize bill- to 15 inches tal1 the y do not kil1 

 bug twice natural size. (After them, but gouge out such large cav- 

 ities in the stalks that they become 

 twisted into all sorts of shapes. 

 The attacked plants sucker pro- 

 fusely, affording the young, ten- 

 der growth for the beetles to feed 

 upon, even for many days after 

 the non-infested plants have be- 

 come hard." Injury seems to 

 be most serious on low land. 

 Injury by this species somewhat 

 resembles that done by the larger 

 cornstalk-borer (Diatraea zeaco- 

 lella), but is easily distinguished 

 from the work of the other bill- 

 bugs, as the punctures of the lat- 

 ter, which usually form a row or 

 rows of holes in the leaves when 

 they unfold, are not always fatal 

 to the plants. 



Control. Inasmuch as most 

 of the beetles hibernate in the 

 corn stubble, they may be readily 

 destroyed by pulling out and 

 burning the stubble. Care must 

 be taken, however, to pull out 

 the taproot, as the stalk will be 

 liable to break above the beetle 



and leave it in the ground. As 

 the infested stalks have a poor 

 root system, they are easily 

 pulled. Crop rotation and fall plowing are also of great value. 



FIG. 141. Corn plant showing the 

 result of attack of the maize bill- 

 bug: a, larval burrow containing 

 pupa in natural position reduced 

 two- thirds; b, egg-puncture con- 

 taining egg enlarged (After Kelly, 

 U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



